Painful Memories
by Shoujo's Revenge
Summary: Ayane, a demon huntress was assigned to kill Kurama and Hiei, two strong demons. When she develops amnesia, she starts to fall for Hiei. But will she still love him when her memory comes back? HieixOC
1. Ayane

Painful Memories  
  
Summary: Ayane, a rare demon hunter loses her memory on a mission to kill Kurama and Hiei. Hiei, a powerful cold-hearted demon starts to develop feelings for her. But what will happen when she gets her memory back?  
  
A/N: No flames! I might switch off and on Japanese words like sometimes I might feel like typing youkai instead of demon or ningen instead of human. It all depends on how I feel.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't Yu Yu Hakusho.  
  
Sweat ran down the panicking youkai's face, he panted as he tried to outrun the determined ebony-haired girl. "Please! Please! I did not come to harm any ningens!" he shouted over his shoulder to her. The girl behind him had a look of pure hatred shouted back to him, "That's what they all say! Die filthy youkai!" She let loose the arrow that she was holding tightly in her bow and it missed the retreating gray youkai.  
  
"Damn! I missed!" she cursed to herself and stopped to catch her breath. She looked forward, watching as the youkai ran deeper into the woods. It didn't matter though. She smirked to herself and began to run another way, far away from the place where he just ran.  
  
'Phew! That was close!' the gray-colored youkai thought to himself. He looked around, he found himself in the wooded area of the city park. He looked behind, trying to make sure she wasn't catching up to him. "What a ningen." he mumbled to himself. He never met a human that wasn't scared of him except for two of the Reikai Tantei. (Yusuke and Kuwabara) He wiped the sweat off his face and sat down on a stump to catch his breath.  
  
'This is the last time I escape the Makai for Ningenkai' he thought. The bushes behind him rustled but he wasn't paying any attention. A pair of amber eyes watched him, one hand fumbling behind her back to reach for an arrow and another hand held tightly onto the bow. Up above a tree, a pair of ruby eyes watched the gray demon and the black-haired ningen.  
  
"This ningen is making it harder for me to do my job." the owner of the eyes said with an annoyed voice. Suddenly a piercing sound filled the air, the three of them jumped up in alarm.  
  
Because of the piercing sound, Ayane dropped the arrow she finally found and the demon she had been watching, was now standing on his bare feet looking around in alarm. She cursed as she reached inside her pocket and produced a small cellphone. The screen displayed the number of the caller. She flipped it open and whispered,"Hello?" With her free hand, she groped the ground for the only arrow she had left.  
  
"Stop!" she yelled at the demon, who finally figured out where she was. He began to run but she stood up and holding the arrow with a tip that has been previously dipped with a special demon repellent, she thrust it into the air. The arrow landed into the youkai's chest, burning at the spot where it was lodged in.  
  
Ayane smiled, satisfied with her work, walked over to the fallen body of the demon and pulled out the arrow with a grunt. A hand grabbed her leg and looking down, Ayane saw it was the youkai, clutching onto her leg. He had a sad and furious on his face, and said,"All I was going to do was visit my wife and kids. I wasn't going to harm anybody. I swear to Kami. I would never harm anyone in the world where my love is."  
  
Ayane tried to release his grip but he held on tighter. "Plea..Please help me....Help me by telling my family that I will always-" he said weakly but before he could finish, Ayane kicked him on the side. He released her and clutched his side, groaning in pain. Ayane with hatred in her heart, held the arrow high above her head and with much force, drove it into the demon's heart. The demon died immediately.  
  
"See why I hate your kind? You even use human emotions to get what you want!" she shouted at the still form. She regained herself and calmly walked over the dead demon's body and out of the woods.

Meanwhile...   
  
"Yusuke Urameshi!" a furious voice rang throughout the 14-year old boy's ears. He opened his eyes to see a fuming brunette walking towards him. 'Uh- oh! An angry Keiko is on the loose. I wonder what I did this time?" he stood up and smiled innocently. A little TOO innocently.  
  
"Hi, Keiko! You look so pretty today." Yusuke said nervously, searching in his mind for a reason why she might be mad at him.  
  
"Don't give me that! You were supposed to meet me after my last class and take me to the musuem so we could get research for our project!"  
  
"Oops! I seem to have forgotten! I'm sorry!" he grinned sheepishly. Keiko stalked away but not before giving Yusuke a slap on the face.  
  
"OW! Keiko! I said I was sorry!" he yelled after her, holding his reddening cheek. "Hmph!" Keiko responded.  
  
"Girls......................." Yusuke muttered, watching Keiko's retreating back. He turned around and faced a certain blue-haired deity, sitting on a floating oar. "AHH! Botan! Don't do that!"  
  
Botan giggled and jumped off her oar. It instantly disappeared in thin air when she got off. "Sorry Yusuke"  
  
"Whatever. So why are you here? Another assignment?" Yusuke asked, knowing the answer already. Botan nodded and held her hand out and the oar appeared once more. Yusuke sighed, he never quite gotten used to Botan's oar. He got on behind Botan and clutched onto the oar.  
  
'This time I'm not gonna fall off the oar!' Yusuke thought as he held on tighter. "Off we go!" Botan said gleefully and the oar started to lift higher and higher off the ground.  


While...

  
Ayane turned the key in the lock, opened the door and walked into the apartment which she shared. She threw all her things on the kitchen table and walked into her room to change her soil-covered clothes. She grumbled, pulling some pieces of bush out of her tied up hair. She paused, listening to nothing in particular but to make sure he wasn't home yet. She didn't feel like listening to him assign more missions. Being a youkai hunter was part of her life, but it would be so great if she didn't have to do it everyday of her life.  
  
After she slipped into a white nightgown, she settled her body in bed and escaped to dreamland. She wasn't aware of the figure outside the window that was watching her with red eyes. The figure disappeared after seeing her fall asleep.  
  
A/N: Plz review! This was a boring chapter but it'll be good later. I promise.


	2. The New Mission and the Unknown Cousin

A/N: Whoa! I actually got some reviews for this crappy story! I kind of messed up the first chapter (Hiei wasn't supposed to see her yet!) What the hell was I thinking when I wrote it?! Oh, well, I guess I could fix it somehow.....  
  
Warnings: This fic has strong language and some violence.  
  
Chapter 2: The New Mission and the Unknown Cousin  
  
(Note: Most of everybody thinks that the demon hunter is a guy) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Have you heard? There is a demon hunter running about."  
  
"Really? I thought the last of the demon hunters already died out."  
  
"Well, apparently, the last of the Anda clan has discovered his true roots and is looking for revenge."  
  
"Revenge for what?"  
  
"A group of demons killed his family when he was just a child and left him an orphan."  
  
"I see...."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ayane grumbled as she slipped into a light blue checkered-patterned dress. She grabbed a light blue lacy ribbon off the bedpost and twisted it around her black hair. She checked the oak-framed mirror hanging on the wall to see if her disguise was just right. She let some hair hang off of the sides of her head to add to the whole 'innocent' look. She winked at her reflection to indicate that she was ready to go on another demon-killing mission.  
  
Except this time, the mission was going to take some time because her new victims weren't ordinary demons. They were Youko Kurama and Hiei Jaganshi, the most dangerous demons of all of Makai. (A/N: I don't really know about this but hey it's my story) Her employer and her savior, Jiroshi, informed her of both of the demons' histories. Ayane wasn't so confident about this mission since this was her first time dealing with such (according to their reputations anyway) powerful demons. But she wasn't going to back down now when she already killed over a hundred demons.  
  
"Ayane, are you ready yet?", yelled a voice from outside her bedroom door.  
  
"Yes, Jiroshi-san, I'm ready. But do I really have to wear this?", she asked, checking herself in the mirror.  
  
She really loathed wearing something as (for lack of a better word) innocent as this, she usually liked either wearing sexy or casual clothing. But wearing this disguise would ensure her success in this mission, so she eventually accepted it but not without a thought of burning it every once in a while.  
  
She opened her bedroom door and carried a duffel bag with her filled with the disguises, some money and some other essentials. Ayane sighed as she walked out of her temporary living quarters with Jiroshi. She really didn't want to leave the ordinary two story house because it gave her a feeling of security. She had imagined that her parents and her had lived in a home like that one before they were murdered. So she sighed as she looked out of the taxi window and watched the house disappear from sight.  
  
["Mommy, could you sing the song before I go to sleep?" asked an ebony- haired little girl.  
  
Her ebony-haired mother walked over to her and smiled, then she started to run her fingers through her daughter's soft hair. Ayane fussed a little bit because she didn't like it when people messed up her hair. But she eventually calm down and smiled at her mother's loving touch.  
  
"Sure, Ayane," her mother said softly and began to sing her favorite lullaby.  
  
Ayane started to drift off when there was a loud knock at the door, thus resulted in the little girl to jump up and clutching her mother's arm.  
  
"It's okay, Ayane. It's only someone at the door," said her mother, trying to calm her down.  
  
"Hmm...okay, if you say so. But who could it be at this time?", asked Ayane.  
  
"Good question...." said her mother, her voice trailing.  
  
Then her mother had a serious expression on her face which made Ayane worry. Her mother turned back to Ayane and tucked her in bed and rushed out of the room but not before saying good night. Ayane's mother also warned that she could only get out of bed when she was told to either by her dad or herself (the mom).  
  
"But mommy...." Ayane said but her mother was already outside her bedroom door.  
  
Ayane could hear the hushed but also loud mutterings of her parents outside of her bedroom door. They seemed to be worried about something. But what? Ayane shrugged to herself and figured that her parents, the most bravest people in the world (according to her anyway), would be able to overcome it. They would solve it in a matter of minutes and things will be back to normal. At least, that was what she thought....]  
  
"Ma'am!"  
  
"Nani?! (What?!)" Ayane asked alarmed.  
  
"Ma'am, this is where you wanted to go right?" the taxi driver asked her impatiently.  
  
Ayane shook her head to fully wake herself up and looked out of the window. That was the apartment building, all right. Ayane got out of the cab and handed the taxi driver the right amount of yen. She carried her duffel bag and walked up the steps leading to the apartment building....  
  
Meanwhile in Reikai, the Junior Spirit lord explained the new mission to the Spirit Detectives. It was rather different from the ones that they normally have. It was mainly because they had to look for a human instead of a demon.  
  
"But you have to be careful. Especially Hiei and Kurama." Koenma warned.  
  
"A human? Why do we need to be careful around a human? I mean, we've battled with tougher demons," Yusuke said cockily.  
  
"Because Yusuke, this person is no ordinary human, he is a demon hunter. He is the last demon hunter of the Anda clan and the Anda family has a huge history of killing anybody or anything that has to do with demons. Most of the Makai demons fear them and would never dare cross any Anda family member", Botan said seriously.  
  
"You mean, they're like the Sopranos?" Kuwabara asked stupidly.  
  
Everybody in the room excluding Hiei and Kuwabara fell anime style.  
  
"Ningens can say such stupid things", said Hiei.  
  
"Anyway, back to the subject. But why do we need to capture this demon hunter. I mean, isn't he helping us by killing demons? I mean, the demons that eats humans or does bad things that are world threatening?" Yusuke added when he saw Hiei glare at him.  
  
"Well, yes and no. Yes, because this demon hunter does kill the ones that try to terrorize Ningenkai. But no because this demon hunter has also killed demons some of whom are close to King Yomi," said Koenma sighing.  
  
"I see. So all we have to do is to find this demon hunter so he can't eliminate any more of Yomi's associates," said Kurama.  
  
"Or he'll suffer in Yomi's hands, I gotcha now," Yusuke continued.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Yusuke opened the door to his apartment that he shared with his mom and was greeted with the fresh smell of a home cooked meal. Not believing that his mom would actually cook a meal let alone be home especially at this time when she usually goes out partying. He entered the kitchen and saw someone bending in front of the oven, but it wasn't Atsuko. So Yusuke cleared his throat which visibly surprised the stranger.  
  
But the stranger regained herself and turned around with a sickeningly sweet smile plastered on her face. Now that Yusuke got a better look at her, he could see her attractive features especially her amber eyes.  
  
"Oh, you finally came home and just in time for dinner, too. Aunt Atsuko will be out tonight so we'll be all alone unless your friends would like to join us. We have more than enough food," she said, smiling again.  
  
"My friends?" Yusuke asked and turned around to find that the rest of the Spirit Detectives were behind him.  
  
"What the hell are you guys doing here?! I didn't even hear you following me!" Yusuke yelled.  
  
"Really, Yusuke! Don't be so rude and invite your friends in!" scolded the stranger, hands on her hips.  
  
"Hey lady! Nobody ever tells me what to do, got it? Who the hell are you anyway?!" Yusuke snapped.  
  
The stranger's sweet smile faded but was soon recovered by a weak one.  
  
"Oh! Yusuke, how can you forget your favorite cousin from your mom's side!" said the stranger who burst out laughing.  
  
A/N: All right! Score one for me! I finally updated! You know the drill! Review after you're finished reading. 


	3. The Annoying Cousin

A/N: Okay, I found out a way that I could fix the first chapter. The 'figure' with red eyes standing out of Ayane's window and watching her isn't Hiei, I guess you'll figure out who he is later. But the one who said,"This ningen is making it harder for me to do my job" is Hiei. It was also dark when they were in the same place together so therefore, he couldn't see her properly.  
  
______________  
  
Ayane sighed, lifting her light blue dress over her head. She abruptly tore the same colored ribbon out of her hair. With a light thump, her bare back (with the exception of a bra) landed on the bed of her 'Aunt' Atsuko's bed. She was so tired. Who wouldn't be after spending the whole night, cooking for your 'cousin', who kept asking for seconds of everything? Then again she wouldn't blame him, after all, she did cook well. She did have some help though. (She took out the trash so no one could find the delivery bags.)  
  
Even so that was still hard work since she had to pretend that she was cooking. But that wasn't what was making her so tired, it was also the dream she had. It emotionally drained her. It was as though everytime she thought of it, her energy would be sucked out of her body. She couldn't do anything that she would normally do: exercise, stake out for demons, train to get stronger.  
  
Training was her favorite pastime since she would one day meet stronger demons. So she needed to get stronger herself. To get the revenge she so yearned. In fact, that was her purpose of living: to avenge her parents' death. If she didn't have that one goal, she would've killed herself a long time ago. She didn't have any brothers or sisters. She never met any of her other relatives. All she had was her Mommy and her Daddy. But now all she have is her grudge and desire to eliminate all demons.  
  
{"No! Mommy, Daddy!" screamed Ayane.  
  
There they were, all covered in blood from head to toe. Her body shook uncontrollably and she couldn't control her tears from pouring out of her eyes.  
  
No...they couldn't be dead. They just couldn't be. They were all she had....}  
  
"Damn it! Ayane, would you answer me already?!" an irritated voice sounded through the door.  
  
"Oh, sorry, Yusuke. I was just daydreaming," she said, facing Yusuke.  
  
"Uh......" he said, drooling.  
  
"Are you okay? You look so out of it," she said, then she looked down. 'Oh, no wonder. What a pervert.'  
  
"Uh....." (Yusuke's expression: @_@)  
  
"Had enough yet?" she asked, snapping her fingers in front of his face.  
  
"........" By now, Ayane was looking her patience.  
  
"Will you stop that?!" she snapped, knocking him on the side of his head.  
  
"Sorry....You hit harder than Keiko. Ow..."  
  
She rolled her eyes. She pitied this Keiko girl. She probably had to put up with his perverted behavior all the time. (And how right she is!)  
  
"What is it that you want me for?" she asked, sweetly again.  
  
"Oh, here are towels and the bathroom's that way," he said, pointing her out the direction.  
  
"Oh, thank you, Yusuke!" she said, perkily.  
  
"Whatever..." he muttered, walking away. In the pit of his stomach, he was getting a suspicious feeling about this cousin of his. But that didn't stop him from taking a last glance at her barely covered chest. (And of course, she already closed the bedroom door, much to his disappointment. ______________  
  
The next day, Yusuke was awoken by his favorite cousin. Unfortunately, she woke him up two hours before school even started. After this, he decided that she wasn't his favorite cousin anymore. That didn't stop her from bugging him though.  
  
"Yusuke! Did you take a shower yet?!"  
  
"Yusuke, did you do your homework yet?"  
  
"Yusuke, why are these kind of magazines here?!"  
  
"YUSUKE!" here. "YUSUKE!" there.  
  
"Hey, quit telling me what to do! I don't take orders from anyone!" he yelled, not able to take anymore.  
  
"Maybe I should fix your hair...." she muttered, fiddling with his hair.  
  
"Are you even listening to me?! ______________  
  
"Yusuke, why are you so late?" Botan asked.  
  
"Shut up," he said simply.  
  
"Is it because of Keiko?" she asked. "I saw her yesterday and she seemed to be angry at you but don't worry, I'm sure she cooled down today!"  
  
"It's not because of Keiko. It's because of my cousin," he grumbled.  
  
"Your cousin? You have a cousin?"  
  
"Yeah, I was surprised, too." ______________  
  
"I love you, Guro-kun," she said, nuzzling against him.  
  
"I love you, too, Arisa-koi," Guro said, kissing her.  
  
"Release the poor girl this instant!" a voice yelled.  
  
The couple looked around, surprised and scared. Well, the girl was scared and surprised. The guy was only surprise. Worried, he pushed his girlfriend behind him and looked around. Whoever that was will not harm his only love. He would make sure of that. He didn't care if she saw his true side, he would protect her.  
  
"I said, let go of her now!" a young girl said, landing in front of them.  
  
"What do you want?!" Guro asked.  
  
"I want your life, demon," she stated coldly.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Arisa piped from behind Guro.  
  
"Arisa, step aside," Guro said, without looking at her.  
  
"What are you going to do?" she breathed out. ______________  
  
A/N: That's what I got so far. No romance between Hiei and Ayane yet. In fact, no interaction between them yet. But there will be next chapter, just review and I'll become motivated. OMG! Kagome0102! Thank you so much for reviewing! Also thanks for giving me permission to use your wishing star necklace idea. 


	4. Suspicion

Painful Memories

Chapter 4: Suspicion

**(bold: memories/dreams)**

_(italic: mostly Ayane's thoughts)_

_Damn youkai! He sure packed a punch! _Ayane thought as she applied more pressure to her bleeding arm. Currently, she was wearing a half-torn white blouse, a ripped navy blue V-neck sweater and a plaited navy blue skirt. It was one of the outfits she brought over in her duffle bag to fit the role of an innocent girl, but she still couldn't resist trying to kill a demon when she sees one. Her white sleeves soaked up most flowing blood and she used her jacket to cover up her arm to avoid any shocked expressions. Now all she had to do was walk up to the Urameshi apartment building and run into the bathroom, then she'd be all set.

Hopefully, the black-haired boy wasn't there or he'd surely asking questions. However, Ayane prayed that she wouldn't have to explain anything, depending if her jacket could take the pressure of the heavy blood dripping inside of the sleeve.

As Ayane trudged herself up the steps to the apartment building, her vision started to deteriorate and her left leg missed the step in front of her. Her breathing increased and her heart started to pound heavily against her ears. Before she even knew it, she collapsed onto the concrete steps. She could hear someone shrieking and asking if she was okay, but she lost consciousness before she could answer.

**"Mommy and Daddy.....both not with me anymore." Ayane mourned, tears spilling out of her closed eyelids.**

**Her little fingers shakingly reached out for her parents' bloody forms, she wanted to see if they were truly dead. Maybe they still had breath, maybe they still could live if she called the police in time. They couldn't possibly leave her.....They just couldn't! **

**"Don't bother wasting your time." a deep male voice said, surprising the little girl.**

**"Wh-who are you?!" Ayane asked, visibly shaking.**

**Slowly walking out of the shadows, a young man wearing a navy blue school uniform, looked unemotionally at Ayane. She studied the young man in front of him while a question popped into her mind: Who was he? **

**"I can see you're confused. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Jiroshi. I have no surname and you shall refer to me as Jiroshi-san. From now on, I'm going to take care of you for a price..." he said, his eyes glinting in the darkness.**

**"What?" Ayane breathed out.**

"Is she awake yet?" Keiko asked.

"Her eyes are starting to open." Yukina said.

Ayane opened her eyes, wincing as she tried to sit up in the bed but was pushed down by a brunette in a sailor style school uniform. She didn't pay attention when the brunette tried to ask her if she was okay. Her head was pounding and she was also trying to figure out why she had that memory as a dream. She was so young back then when her parents were murdered. And for what reason? She never knew. She only knew that a band of demons killed them. Her parents were good people.

**"Look what Daddy and I got you, Ayane. Your very own goldfish!" her mother said cheerfully, holding a clear plastic bag with a swimming goldfish in it.**

**"Yay! Thank you, Mommy and Daddy!" Ayane said, hugging them both and poking at the bag. "It's so cute!" she said, when the goldfish swam away from Ayane's poking finger.**

**"And don't forget your favorite strawberry cake!" her dad exclaimed, lifting the cake out of its box.**

**"Yay!" **

"Are you all right?" Yukina asked warmly.

"What?" Ayane said, snapping out of memory lane. Not realizing there was a tear trailing down her cheek, she looked curiously at the blue-haired girl to figure out what she asked.

"I said, are you all right?" she asked again.

"Uh yeah. I'm fine. I have to go now." she said, getting up from the bed.

Ayane, now dressed in fresh new and untorn clothes, which consisted of light yellow pajamas with flowery designs in it. It was before she remembered that her arm was seriously injured but when she push up her sleeve, the bloody wound was wrapped up in white bandages. The fabric was soaking up the blood but it was also clotting up well. Blood rushed to Ayane's head as soon as she stood up, although she ignored it and continued to walk out of the bedroom.

"Oh, please stop trying to walk and go back to bed!" Yukina said.

Ayane just ignored her, staggering out to the hallway.

"Where do you think you're going?" an emotionless voice said as soon as Ayane reached the doorway.

_Red eyes and black hair..._

"Get out of my way," she muttered weakly.

She gritted her teeth, leaning against the wall for support. No good. She was too weak to be doing anything. Ayane simply didn't have the strength to walk anymore. So she did the next best thing, fainted right into somebody's arms.

"Hiei-san, you caught her," Yukina said.

_Found Hiei..._ With that, Ayane's world blacked out in front of her.

Six hours later, Ayane was already awake but she was too tired to open up her eyelids. So she just stayed in bed the rest of the evening, thinking,'_I found Hiei now I need to find Kurama and find out their weaknesses. After eliminating them, I'm going to take down the leaders of Makai. _

Meanwhile, in the living room, Yusuke and his fellow Spirit Detectives along with the girls was watching the news on television. They were watching as a man reported about a male teenager dying after being lethally attacked by a teenage girl. The girlfriend of the dying young man was crying and screamed his name behind the newscaster. In the background, the camera captured the young man being carried away in an ambulance.

"The peace was disturbed today as a young man was attacked today in this park. Witnesses reported that they heard the attacker repeatedly called him a 'demon'. Miss Fujisaka Arisa was only hugging her boyfriend, Watanaki Guru, when a crazy girl came out and attacked him." the newscaster said.

"Is she awake yet?" Yusuke asked Keiko, who shook her head.

Several people in the room found it strange that Yusuke's unknown cousin, came home with a bloodied arm on the same day that a teenage boy was attacked by some psycho girl....accusing him of being a demon.

"I need to ask your cousin something." Kurama suddenly said, getting up from the floor.

A/N: Hmm..I wonder what Kurama will ask her and if Ayane will be able to be patient with the untrusting Hiei. After all, she still needs to find out his weakness.


	5. Stupid Ideas

Painful Memories

A/N: Surprisingly, I'm updating weekly instead of monthly. It usually takes me a long while to update this particular fic and that really annoys me because it's not up to the climax yet only to the lesser conflict at this point. I won't be able to update on the weekdays because of a obvious reason: school. So look for updates on the weekends unless I'm bombarded by a ton of schoolwork. There's reminders so people can remember about Ayane's brief history.

Chapter 5: Stupid Ideas

Ayane had heard what they were saying, one of Yusuke's friends was walking to her currently residing room as she planned on her escape. No matter what, she couldn't reveal her real identity, how could she possibly explain her bloody arm? Unfortunately, her brain was too tired to think of anything intellectual to say so she decided to escape through the window. Even if it meant more injuries, she couldn't risk herself to be exposed to all those demons. Especially when she's this injured, they would torture her or worse; kill her.

She got up from the comfortable bed that she wished she could still remain in, but she had to move fast. In her current condition, she wouldn't be as agile as before. She had gathered from the fact that the red haired one was reasonable that he was Kurama. The infamous demon was known for his intelligent and his good looks. So it wouldn't be hard to spot the fox demon out of the whole group of friends. She had already suspected that he was Kurama when she first met him, the same night that she introduced herself as Yusuke's cousin.

Kurama silently contemplated as he walked to Ayane's room, _It isn't a coincidence that Yusuke's unknown cousin suddenly comes home with a bloody arm on the same day, someone was killed by a 'demon' screaming girl. What other explanation is there for the bloody arm?_

Even though, he knew that she was unable to do much especially with her horribly injured arm, he still ran the rest of the way to her room.

Meanwhile, Ayane was almost out of the room. She was dangling her feet out of the edge of the window and struggled to push herself out of the window. She was pretty much stuck in the window if only she could resist all the pain in her right arm. She could definitely escape the apartment and come back later.

"What the hell is that ningen girl doing?" Hiei questioned. He was looking up at the window where Ayane is struggling to step down on the edge of the window, without losing her balance.

It would a most amusing sight if Hiei knew who she really was but he just assumed she was a normal human girl, who was supposedly Yusuke's cousin. He didn't know that she was indeed the demon hunter that he and his spirit detective colleagues were to protect. In fact, they think the demon hunter they have to find was a guy. Ayane Anda was the last of the demon hunter of her bloodline and every demon is cautious when going into Ningenkai.

Makai

"Did you hear? The demon hunter has struck again and this time it's one of those high class demons of Yomi's." one demon said.

"Preposterous! The Anda family was eliminated by that band of demons! Other demons practically worshipped them for doing a seemingly impossible task." the second demon said.

"But there's a rumor that they missed one family member and that one dedicated all his life to get his revenge. His thirst for revenge would only be satisfied if he were to kill all demons in the three worlds." the one demon said worriedly.

"That's only a myth. Some bored demons probably just spread that rumor so they could frighten other stupid demons."

"How do you explain Genru's death? When his body was brought back, they discovered a special kind of demon repellent right in his heart. The same kind that only the Anda clan used!"

"W-well...um..." the second demon said nervously.

Back to Ningenkai

_Almost there..._ Ayane breathed in heavily as she tried to gain her balance on the edge of the window, then she could try to climb down the side of the building. At that moment, Kurama opened the door to Ayane's room and gasped as he saw a hand on the window sill and the top of her head. Ayane also gasped; she had been too slow in her escape. Now she also had to explain why she's trying to climb out of the window.

She gripped onto the window sill and used her right arm to grab onto a tree branch. She felt a painful jolt from her right arm making her let go out of the branch. Her feet wasn't on the edge of the window anymore. With a shocked scream, she closed her eyes and tried to think about something else so it wouldn't hurt as much when her body would impact onto the concrete sidewalk below.

Hopefully, the fall wouldn't result in breaking her neck. That's what she hoped anyway. She couldn't possibly fulfill her goal with a broken neck! She might be weak at that moment but she wasn't going to let her life end this easily. Quickly, she grabbed the nearest thick branch and tried to pull herself up. Kurama peered out of the window to see if Ayane was all right. It seemed as though she was doing okay but she still needed help and her currently disabled arm wasn't any help to her.

Hiei was just staring up at the tree with the black-haired girl, dangling onto the thick branch with only her left hand gripping onto it. If Ayane decided to used her right arm again, she would surely have a shock through her arm and fall down for good. He was thinking whether or not, he should save her. After all, it was her stupid decision to climb out of the window. Hiei found it strange and suspicious she would do that. Perhaps, he shouldn't underestimate her.

_I can't hold on much longer. _Ayane looked down at the drop before her, she didn't want to fall from this high. Her left hand was starting to itch from the dry rough bark. Her fingers were slowly slipping from the tree branch.

_I don't want to die yet! _Ayane cried in her mind, her amber eyes closed tightly, not exactly anticipating in the fall that could end her life or at least injure her more.

Hiei...

**To be Continued...**

Edited on 6/7/10


	6. False Impressions

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews but no more talk have to finish this chapter.

Chapter 6: False Impressions

Ayane's fingers couldn't hold onto the branch any longer. She was losing all feeling in her fingers and they were starting to feel numb. _I can't believe I'm going to die after all this time... _Ayane shut her eyes tightly so she wouldn't have to witness her seemingly inevitable demise. Tears squeezed their way through her eyelids as she thought about how she didn't fully avenge her parents. _I'm so sorry, mom and dad!_

Hiei had decided to save the girl for Yukina's sake. He had remembered that Yukina discovered the girl on the steps of the Urameshi apartment building with Keiko. He observed how worried Yukina looked when she watched over the unconscious girl. She was always worrying about injured humans, even if humans captured her once. She would never turn her back on them just because particular humans were cruel. She was smart and kind enough not to think that all humans were all that bad.

If it were he, he would probably just let the stupid girl die. After all, what girl would be stupid enough to try to get out of the window with a broken right arm? But what would Yukina think if she found out that he witnessed Ayane in danger and didn't even bother to lift a finger to help?

"Everybody, come quickly! Yusuke's cousin is trying to jump out of the window!" Kurama said, alarming everyone. "Unfortunately, she lost her balance and is trying to hang onto a tree."

"What?!" Yusuke exclaimed, standing up.

"Ah! Ayane-san is in danger!" Yukina said in a worried tone.

As soon as Ayane's last finger slowly released itself from the tree branch, Hiei sprang into action and stood at the spot under the tree, where he thought that she would surely fall. He had his arms in a ready position, ready to catch her.

The wind rushed to her face as she was descending closer and closer to the hard ground. Her eyes were still closed so she didn't see someone getting ready to catch her. Maybe she was imagining things but she thought she saw her life flash before her eyes. She hugged her body in an attempt to calm herself down.

**FUMP! **Then an irritated grunt.

Ayane was leaning against something soft and didn't feel her skull cracking in half. She was surprised as she slowly opened her eyes and looked around at her surroundings. Wasn't she supposed to be as flat as a pancake now? She couldn't feel any pain. Maybe she was already dead and she was floating right now. She was blinking in confusion until she looked down at her legs.

She gasped, there was a hand supporting her under the knees. She could also hear a 'hn' sound close to her ears. She turned to her left and saw Hiei, who was supporting her body with her uplifting arms. In shock, she kept staring at him, much to Hiei's annoyance.

_Can't this ningen girl get off of me already? I already saved her. She should just get off now!_

Ayane regained herself in a matter of seconds, yet she was still surprised. _He saved me? _Her mission, she had to remember her mission. _I have to act grateful and pretend to be the nice Ayane. Why do I keep forgetting?_

She suddenly burst into crocodile tears and buried her head into Hiei's chest. Pretending to be shaken of the whole experience, Ayane thought she would try to get on his side by putting on a facade. Hiei was surprised, wanting to throw her body on the ground at the same time. He definitely didn't want her this close to him, he thought as she put her arms around his neck, pulling herself closer to him.

By this time, Yusuke and the others were already watching from Ayane's window at the two 'lovebirds' (as Yusuke jokingly called them). Yukina smiled gently as she watched, thinking that Hiei-san finally found someone to love. Botan was secretly whispering thoughts to Keiko about Hiei and Ayane. On Botan's face was a kitty expression while Keiko just sweatdropped and giggled nervously. _Typical of Botan of thinking of that, I guess. _Keiko thought.

"Oh, thank you! I was just so scared!" Ayane exclaimed dramatically.

She hugged him tighter and tighter as she expressed just how **scared** she supposedly was, when she was dangling from the tree branches. Hiei truly regretted ever rescuing her and now he wished to slash the overly dramatic girl into pieces. Ayane, herself, just had to mentally gag. This was so unlike her, but she had to do her job. She mentally scolded herself and told herself to lower down the level of drama.

What she wanted to truly do was to yell at the demon to let go of her and slap him for even laying a hand on her. She gritted her teeth as she was still nestled into his chest, thinking of how much she hated this demon and all demons. They were the reason that her parents died, leaving her all alone in this world. She was forced to become a demon hunter, in order to survive in this cruel world. When she was ten years old, she had to learn to kill the revolting creatures known as demons. She hated having to get up so early every morning and having to eat lesser. As time passed, however, she grew to love her occupation and sought to rid of all demons.

She deemed herself the protector of Ningenkai, the human world, from all inhabitants of Makai, the demon world. Everytime she spotted a demon escaping into the human world, she immediately made him/her a target. All of the demons hurt and kill mankind, why should she spare any of them? She would also get assignments from her protector, Jiroshi, who taught her the ways of being a demon hunter.

With Jiroshi's guidance and knowledge of the three worlds, Ayane ultimately expanded her goal and decided to target the leaders of Makai as soon as she got stronger.

"Get off of me." Hiei said gruffly to Ayane.

"You caught Ayane-san again, Hiei-san!" Yukina yelled from the window.

Hiei looked up, embarrassed to find everybody looking out of the window, most of them grinning evilly. They had suggestive looks, which infuriated Hiei yet made him almost blush at the same time. Ayane got what they were thinking and decided to play along. She leaned closer to the fire demon, her breath hot against his ear and faked almost kissing him on the cheek. Ayane could feel him literally boiling up as the whole crowd up at the window was making 'oohing' sounds.

Ayane quickly jump out of his arms before he could get as hot as fire. She regained her composure and gently cradled her right arm. She was blushing, whether out of embarrassment or out of pain. Her right arm wasn't boding very well considering the escapade she just experienced. She tried to escape the property then failed and ended up in the arms of a demon. Now her arm was getting worser and worser. She could feel it pulsating and it pained her greatly everytime it did.

_What can I do now? This situation was getting worser and worser every second. I need more rest, but Jiroshi-san is expecting me to report back to him as soon as possible._

Ayane wasn't aware that Hiei was still standing next to her, she just looked up to the window at Yusuke. He was looking back at her with a worried expression plus an annoyed one. Ayane observed that Yusuke gets mad easily when she first met him, but she didn't expect him to be worried. She had to go at this moment yet is it possible to run away from them now? It was especially hard when everybody's looking at you.

What choice did she have right now? She would just have to report to Jiroshi later with the details. If she still attempted to run away now, they would suspect something even more so now.

What a bad day for a demon hunter to do her job. She had to admit that she was grateful that Hiei saved her, demon or not. She still owed him and would have to do something for him before she kills him.

"Thank you again for saving me again," Ayane said sincerely to Hiei, before walking around the apartment building to the entrance.

Yusuke ran to the entrance so he could catch up to Ayane, who would be coming up pretty soon. Ayane's stomach gurgled, indicating that she was hungry for she hadn't eaten all day. She silently cursed at all the stairs that she would have to climb up before she could reach Yusuke's apartment. Luckily for her, Yusuke was waiting on the top step of the third staircase. Even though, Yusuke thought that she was an annoying cousin, he was also worried about her. _Was she trying to commit suicide?_

Ayane gave up trying to climb the blurring staircase so she just collapsed onto the steps. She was half-awake, watching as the blurry Yusuke walked down the stairs towards her and lifted her over his shoulder.

Images

"Why were you trying to climb out of the window?" Yukina asked, applying a wet cloth on Ayane's forehead.

"Oh, I just thought I saw someone out of the window, telling me to go out. I was probably just hallucinating." Ayane said, smiling slightly.

With no other explanation, Ayane just figured she used the old hallucination lie.

"Oh, who did you thought you saw?" she asked.

"I-I thought I saw two people very special to me." she said, closing her eyes.

She was feeling so drowsy, the heavy emotion inside of her was being restrained by Ayane's unwilliness to share her true feelings.

**Blood. Everywhere. Splashed everywhere.**

The images flashed before her eyes everytime she closed her eyes. She was afraid to go to sleep, although she didn't want to talk to Yukina anymore. She didn't want to talk to anyone at the moment. She pretended to go to sleep because she wanted to be alone. _I just want to be left alone._

Before Ayane knew it, she drifted into a deep sleep. She would dream, as always except this time, she would have a different dream.

The skies were dark and the clouds were blocking the shining moon, Ayane stood beside a tall tree. The leaves were rustling calming in the howling wind. It looked it was going to rain yet she still stood there. The dark leaves overshadowed Ayane's figure, she looked up at something. A placid expression was dawned on her face and she was silent.

Then she began to speak in a restrained voice, "You know why I'm here, don't you? I'm here to end it all." As usual her emotions were being blocked by her stubbornness, her voice held a tone of business. Ayane waited for the figure standing in the tree to speak, except the figure didn't say anything. He just stood there, the tree leaves also overshadowing him so she couldn't see him clearly.

"You as well as I know, a human and a demon don't belong together," she said, reaching into her pocket.

"I don't agree." he said, his voice emotionless as well.

"I'm sorry you feel that way because no matter what, I won't change my mind," Ayane said, holding a pouch and a knife. "I want to give this back to you." Ayane threw the pouch up to the figure, who caught it. "I don't want your teargem."

To be continued.

A/N: This chapter was foreshadowing what will happen much much later in the story. There was also some romance scenes so nobody can't complain saying that there was no romance. This fic will probably have 10 more chapters as long as I type more for each chapter.


	7. Discovery

A/N: The last time that I updated this story was almost 6 or 7 months ago. Sorry for keeping you waiting. This is a somewhat morbid chapter.

**Warning for this chapter! **If you can't stand violent scenes then skip the beginning part.

Chapter 7: Discovery

_Kill, Ayane, kill that demon that took your loved ones away from you. Just one plunge directly over its heart...Make your parents proud and avenge their death! NOW! DO IT NOW! _Jiroshi screamed at Ayane. The ten-year-old Ayane looked at the demon in front of her, tied to a pole. He was struggling against the ropes and cursing at the human in front of him.

"Hah! A pathetic human girl! I'm supposed to be scared of you! You wouldn't have the guts to kill me if you wanted to!" he directed the comments to Ayane.

She had tears running down her face and a dagger drenched in deadly demon poison in hand. She was so scared as she looked at the pathetic demon, who was still too stubborn to shut up. She sensed that he was truly afraid but he was too proud to admit defeat. He was one of those...demons that killed her parents. The demons that were afraid that the infamous demon hunter family would go after them.

"You killed my mommy a-and da-daddy. Why would you?" she asked weakly. With hatred running through her veins, she stabbed him in the arm with as much force she could muster. He screamed in pain as the demon poison seeped deeply into his slimy green blood. "HOW COULD YOU!" she screamed with her eyes closed. She lost all of her control and started to stab him repeatedly in different spots on his body. Meanwhile, her teacher, Jiroshi stood close by, smirking at his protégé's bloodthirsty behavior.

"AHHHHH!" the demon screamed louder with each stab he took. Finally, Ayane opened her eyes and looked the demon directly in the eyes. The demon shuddered at the coldness in her amber eyes. "Read my lips. You and your entire race will regret the day that you crossed AYANE ANDA!" She slammed the dagger straight into his left eye and into his brain until blood rained down. The demon's screams died as he hung lifeless against the ropes.

"Good girl, Ayane," Jiroshi said, walking over to her and patting her on the back. "You are, indeed, ready to rid the worlds of all demons."

Ayane's eyes widened at the sight in front of her, looked down at her blood stained hands and slowly threw the soiled dagger on the ground. She covered her face with her hands and started to shiver all over. "What...did I just do?"

"You just did a good deed by killing one and imagine how many good deeds you can do if you kill them all..."

A week later, when Ayane was walking down the street one day, she looked sadly at the ground. She still couldn't believe that she's a demon hunter. Why couldn't she just stayed a normal ten-year-old girl? She broke out of her thoughts when a colorful ball with a bright star design on it, landed next to her feet. When she bent down and picked it up, a boy toddler ran up to her and called, "My ball!"

Ayane smiled sweetly and was about to return the ball. When his chubby little finger touched hers, she sensed the demonic aura around him. She looked at the adorable little boy in horror. _They're even as young as this boy! "Ayane, imagine how many good deeds you can do if you kill them all..."_ Her teacher's words rang in her head. She look down at the boy with a feeling of guilt churning in her stomach. The light-brown haired toddler smiled at her while thanking her for giving back his ball. _But how can I possibly kill a boy, who's practically too innocent to even kill anybody? I can't do it! _She slowly released her hold on the ball...

"You're welcome. Now go back to your mommy, okay?" Ayane said, smiling.

"Hideo! There you are!" the toddler's mother said, running up to them. Ayane could sense the heavy aura around the woman. _Another one of them! The child is innocent but how many people have the mother killed? "Ayane, none of them are innocent. They all need to die." But if I kill the mother, it would be like what the demons did to me. They took my parents away from me! _

"Oh, thank you!" the mother said, bowing at Ayane. "Thank you so much for finding my son! I turned around for one second then he disappeared on me!" While the mother was still talking, Ayane just smiled and nodded as she slowly stuck her hand in her jacket pocket.

"You're very welcome," Ayane said, bringing her hand out. She extended her palm and took the woman's hand in hers, shaking it up and down. The woman was surprised at this gesture but shook Ayane's hand. Sizzling sounds could be heard from the enclosed hands. Hideo looked on in confusion when he saw that his mother's face showed a pained expression.

"You're very welcome," Ayane repeated. "Demon..." She took her hand from the mother's crumbling hand which was slowly turning into ash.

"Wha?" the demon mother said in shock. Ayane looked at her with that same hatred she showed the previous demon, she faced. She took out a small jug of demon repellent for the lower class demons. The light purple would do nothing to Ayane as she wasn't a demon but is like acid to a weak demon. The demon looked on in horror as Ayane gave Hideo the small jug. With a friendly smile and a sweet tone, Hideo couldn't tell that Ayane was making him drink poison.

"NO! HIDEO!" she screamed as the rest of her body turned to ash. The eye was all that remained before Hideo opened the jug and started to drink... "HIDEO! MY BELOVED SON!"

"AH!" Ayane shrieked as she bolted straight up on the bed. She breathed heavily as she surveyed her surrounds. The same old room that Yusuke let her sleep in. She heard light breathing as she turned to face Yukina, who fell asleep in a chair. She sighed as she brushed her long ebony locks out of her face. The sun rays penetrated the light curtain and hit one of Ayane's eyes. She looked at the lime green numbers of the digital clock on the dresser next to the bed.

_It's 6: 30 in the morning. What a big change in my dreams. Instead of the nightmare of my dead parents, I have a weird dream of talking to a shadow (A/N: The Hiei dream) and a memory of my past killings. _Ayane's bare feet hit the cold floor and walked past the slumbering Yukina. _Those were some of the easier killings. _With her uninjured arm, she opened the window wide enough for her body to squeeze through. She grabbed her dark navy jacket before jumping onto the ledge.

_Once I find out Hiei and Kurama's weaknesses, I'm going to kill them then finish the others off..._

After Ayane disappeared, Yukina was having a nice dream until her head drooped. Blurry eyed, she rubbed her eyes and looked around the room. She just remembered that she stayed up all night, watching Ayane sleep, just in case, she needed something. Yukina was about to close her eyes and slumber again. Something caught her attention though...An empty bed.

"Ayane-san! Where is she?" Yukina panicked. She went on her knees and looked under the bed, hopefully, she could find Ayane there. A light breeze greeted her instead.

_A breeze? That would mean that the window's open. _Sure enough when the innocent koorime looked up, she saw that the window was wide open. The curtains were fluttering in the breeze as she rushed to look out the window. She turned left and right but couldn't see Ayane anywhere on the ledge.

"Ayane-san! Please come out wherever you are!" Yukina yelled.

Meanwhile in Koenma's office, Yusuke was standing in front of the toddler's desk, yawning behind his hand. He tried to keep awake as best as he could but his head drooped forward and he started to snore lightly. Irritated, Koenma threw his stamp at Yusuke's head.

"Hey! What'd you do that for!" Yusuke exclaimed, holding onto the handle of the stamp. He was fully awake now.

"Ahem. As I was saying, Yusuke, we have gathered some information about the legendary demon hunter that you're to protect. Take a look at the screen behind me," Koenma said, looking behind him.

George, the blue ogre, switched the lights off as Koenma began to narrate the first slide. "This title of this slide is the "Anda Files". In the years when demon existed, there were also humans, who sworn to rid the worlds of youkai. These kinds of humans were known as demon hunters. Their main duty were to protect the human world from the bloodthirsty demons. Although, it was a popular profession, there were only three infamous demon hunter clans. One of the them was the Anda clan. The others are of no importance so you don't need to know their names." He pressed a button on his remote and the image changed from the title to an image of the first man that made the Anda clan famous. He had brown shaggy hair, wore wild animal furs and had a whip in his hand.

"This is Ichiro Anda, the first of the Andas to become a demon hunter. He was known for torturing demons to death. They say that he had a secret maneuver to killing dozens of demons at once, which is why the Anda clan became well-known. However, it wasn't until many years later when one of his descendants, Lisa Anda, began to develop easier ways and more efficient ways to kill demons with repellents and deadly poisons. There is also a rumor that she also created a secret weapon that can eliminate demons of S class or higher." The screen changed to an image of an attractive woman of thirty years, wearing small square glasses with black hair tied up in a ponytail and piercing amber eyes.

"That woman looks strangely familiar to me," Kurama muttered to himself as he studied Lisa's picture.

"Hmm...A comment that you would like to share with us, Kurama?" Koenma asked when he heard Kurama's comment.

"You know what's weird?" Yusuke suddenly said, wincing at the screen. "She looks just like my cousin."

"You have a cousin?" Koenma asked, surprised.

"Why does everyone keep reacting that way whenever I say that?" Yusuke said.

"So...how long did you know that you have a cousin?" Koenma asked.

"About a week."

"You just found out that you have a cousin this week!" Yusuke just shrugged his shoulders and said, "So what's your point?"

"I think that Koenma is suspecting that Ayane-san isn't your cousin at all," Kurama spoke up. "Koenma, what was your sole reason for us being here?"

"Well, I wanted to tell you that I made a mistake and found out that the only demon hunter left isn't a man. In fact, it's a teenage girl who's probably the same age as you."

In dim lit pub, Ayane sat with her boss, Jiroshi, in a dark corner so they wouldn't be overheard. Although, Ayane is still sixteen-years-old, anyone could easily mistaken her for a twenty-year-old with a little make-up. Her eyelids were tinted with light purple eye shadow while her lips had a hint of scarlet.

"So how are things in the Urameshi household?" Jiroshi asked softly before taking a sip of wine.

"Jiroshi-sama, I found out who's Hiei and Kurama but I haven't figured out their weaknesses yet. Though Hiei looks easy enough to take down," she smirked, bringing out newly concocted demon poison onto the table. Immediately, Jiroshi's eyes glared at the contents of the small glass jars. Ayane didn't notice but in the past, she observed that he would never touch the jars. It had no effect on humans at all, only demons.

"Don't be foolish!" he snapped, moving his hand away from the poisons. It's almost as if he was afraid of them... "Hiei is one of the higher class demons and he's infamous for killing. Especially with his Jagan eye, you would have no chance against him unless-Ayane! Put those poisons back into your bag!" He backed away from the table.

"But Jiroshi-sama, I just wanted to show you my new deadly poisons. They're made from ingredients that I just found out to be more vile to demons than my grandmother's poisons," she said, swirling the contents of one of the jars before his face. Trying not to be suspicious, Jiroshi said calmly that he was allergic to them.

"Sorry, Jiroshi-sama," she said, shoving them into her black bag.

Back at Koenma's office, Yusuke and his friends realized that Ayane was probably the demon hunter that they needed to find. Yusuke thought that they would be happy but the atmosphere wasn't as cheery.

"Why's everyone so down?" he asked. "Isn't it good that she came to us? That means that we don't have to look for her ourselves."

"Yes, but Yusuke, why would she come to you unless...she wanted something," Botan said worriedly. She turned to look at Kurama and Hiei, who was in the corner.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Then he followed Botan's gaze. It finally registered to him.

"She wants to kill Hiei and Kurama!"

"Urameshi, isn't she at your house?" Kuwabara asked. "With Yukina!"

A/N: Another one of those short chapters but at least, I updated. What's going to happen next? I wonder. Please review.


	8. Memory Lost

A/N: Finally, the chapter when she loses her memory. The fun really begins here.

Chapter 8: Memory Lost

As Ayane and Jiroshi were still talking about the possibilities of taking down Ayane's targets, the door of the pub opened. A slight breeze blew past Ayane's face as she took a look at the new customers. Just a mere look of their strange attire and a chill went down her spine. _Damn it! They must be here for revenge for the last demon that I killed! We have to get out of here or these other people will get hurt! _

"Jiroshi-sama," she whispered, nodding over to the strangers' direction. "They mean trouble. We should get out of here." She was about to get up from her seat when he put his hand on top of hers.

"So? Just fight them, Ayane. Go ahead. I want to see if your skills have improved since the last time I saw you fight," he said, smirking.

"But what if those people get hurt?" She asked, indicating the innocent human customers sitting at the bar.

"Live a little. They're just a few humans," he said casually.

"Jiroshi-sama!" she exclaimed. _How can he act like it's okay to kill humans? The sole reason for me to kill demons was so that I could protect humans from them. How could he say such bullshit? _

"Demon hunter?" One of the demons in trench coats yelled, pointing at her.

_I have to draw them somewhere else so they won't hurt any of the people. I have to- _Ayane collapsed into Jiroshi's arms; he smirked and looked down at the unconscious girl. Before she could do anything, he had put a napkin over her nose and mouth. The demons in disguise thought this was weird since it looked like Jiroshi was her boyfriend. When they realized that the elite demon hunter was helpless, they didn't think about the situation. They might as well demand that he hands her over to them.

"Think of all the torture that we can inflict on her when she wakes..." one of them snickered.

"Yeah so you'd better hand the hunter over if you don't want things to get messy," another one of them said, lowering his hat to let Jiroshi his true form.

Underneath the hat was a demon of dark green hue, ten small eyes in the center of his forehead, two slits for a nose and a mouth full of slimy sharp teeth. As if to scare him, the demon gnashed his teeth together repeatedly. However, the dark-haired Jiroshi still wasn't fazed by any of the demons. Calmly, he placed Ayane carefully on a nearby chair.

"If you think I'm afraid of any of you then you're sadly mistaken," he said with an emotionless voice.

"What! Who do you think you are?" While he wiped the counter with a rag, the bartender noticed the tension Jiroshi and the group of disguised demons. He shouted over to them, surprising Jiroshi and the demons.

"Hey! This is a stress free place for my customers so if you want to fight, then take it outside!" He looked sternly at them before turning to re-fill's his customer's mug.

"So I guess that he saved your sorry asses," Jiroshi said, carrying Ayane.

"Grr...Human, don't be foolish," said the one with the sharp teeth. "Give us the demon hunter or you'll get hurt, too."

"Anda is mine. You will never get to lay one claw on her as long as I'm still alive," he said, getting ready to walk out of the pub.

_Oh...Where am I? _Ayane stirred in her sleep, peering out of her eye. She could see the silhouettes of some people. _Wait a minute! One of them has more than two eyes! _She realized when her eyes were in focus. She could also see the floor underneath her..._Wait a sec. Those aren't my feet. Somebody's carrying me! But who? _

"You asked for it!" One of the demons cried, racing towards Jiroshi. He was about to make a move when...

"Take that!" Ayane yelled, throwing some of her potent demon repellents on the charging demon. She jumped out of her surprised master's arms even if she was still woozy. She could still grasp the situation though. Four or maybe five demons were trying to take her life.

_I can still fight. For some reason, I feel so out of it. Have to fight...I will never let any one of the demons take me down!_

"Sleep," Jiroshi said, passing a hand over Ayane's face. Immediately, her head drooped on her shoulder. He caught her before she could fall to the floor. "I'm sorry, Ayane, but I have to, at least, kill once. I've been so bored these six years..." He laid a kiss on her lips before he lay her down on a chair. He walked over to the group of demons slowly with an eerie to his normally green eyes, now they were red.

"Die..." he uttered before he twisted his hand. The demons glowed before him with a crimson light. With a sadistic smile, he closed his hand. The demons exploded into a million pieces with their fading screams.

At Urameshi Residence

_First, I had that bizarre then I dream that Jiroshi-sama fought off demons. _Ayane held her throbbing headache as she walked upstairs to the Urameshi apartment. _Though the second dream seemed so real...Jiroshi-sama's power was incredible. No...It's just a dream. I must've been eating something bad before I went to bed. _Ayane cleared her head and concentrated on the steps in front of her. She couldn't afford to get injured anymore. _Wonder if he's still there? _The 'he' that she was thinking of, referred to Hiei. _That shadow in my first dream reminds me of him. Could it really be him? _Ayane reached the front door and was about to get her keys out when the door opened. Behind the door, Yukina looked surprised at Ayane, who's supposed to be asleep in Atsuko's room. Ayane did the same. _She's still here? _

"Ayane-san! What are you doing out here? You should be in bed!" Yukina said, worriedly.

Ayane just laughed nervously and pretended to stretch. "Oh, well, I don't like to stay at home too long. I just love to jog in the morning! Sorry for worrying you, Yuki-chan! Besides, my arm's feeling a little bit better now. Thank you for taking care of me yesterday," Ayane said, smiling.

"Yuki-chan?" Yukina repeated. Ayane frowned. "You don't like it? Perhaps Yukina-san then?"

"Oh, no, no! Yuki-chan is just fine! It's just that not much people call me that. Then can I call you Aya-chan?"

"Aya-chan?" Ayane asked uncertainly. _A bit informal, isn't it? Then again, I'm supposed to be Ms. Goody-two-shoes. Fine, Aya-chan it is. _She offered a false smile and nodded. "You can call me that."

"Do you want some breakfast, Aya-chan?" Yukina offered.

"No, thank you. I don't like it when people do things for me. I'd prefer to do it myself," she said. Yukina stepped to the side while Ayane walked to the kitchen. The innocent koorime watched the dark-haired girl's bandaged arm. _Aya-chan won't be able to cook with only one arm. _

"Aya-chan! Wait!" Yukina ran after Ayane just as she was about to cook ramen. "What, Yuki-chan?" She looked back at Yukina with a confused expression. "For once, would you mind it if I cooked for you? I can't just stand by and watch you cook especially when your arm's injured," Yukina said.

"Yuki-chan, I thought I already told you that I can handle it by myself," Ayane said, an edge in her voice. She couldn't hide the frustration behind her voice. Yukina didn't seem to notice because she took out a pack of instant ramen and was about to take down a pot from the top shelf. She was too short for it so Ayane shoved her aside and stood on a wobbly stool. Her fingertips almost reached the handle of the pot. Yukina looked on in fear and kept trying to get Ayane off the stool. "Be careful. Aya-chan, maybe you should step down. It doesn't look like it will-" CRASH! "support you." Yukina finished the sentence. Lying in a heap, Ayane's head was bleeding from the impact of the fall.

"Aya-chan! Aya-chan! Are you all right?" Yukina cried. She shook her shoulders to see if she would wake up. Ayane just layed there with her dark hair scattered about, hiding her face. In frustration, Yukina put her hands close to the wound and began the healing process.

_Ayane...Ayane..._A soothing feminine voice called her. Ayane could recognize the familiar voice. It was her mother calling her. _Mommy...What are you doing here? You're supposed to be..._But her mother interrupted her. _Shh. Don't think like that. Even if your dad and I aren't there physically, we're with you spiritually. We both miss you. We both love you. The reason that I'm here is because I want to tell you..._

_Wait, mom! Before you tell me, I want to tell you something first. I'm going to avenge your and dad's death. I'm going to rid the world of all demons so I could protect everyone else from the same fate. My plan's all set and all I need to do is go through with it. _

_Ayane, wait! Stop all this bloodshed. I want to tell you the reason why I never told you the true legacy of our family. _

_Mom, it feels so nice and warm right now. I haven't felt something like this for a long time since you both died. I think this is called happiness..._All of Ayane's memories and tainted thoughts were slowly leaking out of her consciousness. They were being hidden to the back of her mind. Her scowl slowly disappeared and was replaced by a smile. _Ayane...Ayane..._

_I can hear a voice calling someone. I think it's familiar but it's fading. I don't recognize it anymore. _

_Aya-chan! Aya-chan! Wake up!_ "Aya-chan! I'm sorry that I made you fall! Please wake up!" Yukina called to her. Teargems fell to the floor to audible clinks. Ayane's amber eyes opened to see a sea green-haired girl, holding onto her body. She groaned as she raised her body to a sitting position on the kitchen floor. Yukina's frown turned to a joyful smile as she held tighter to Ayane. "Aya-chan, I'm so glad you're awake!" Ayane pushed herself from the arms of the stranger.

"Aya-chan? Is that what you called me?" Ayane said, holding onto her aching head. She grimaced when she looked down to see the blood from her accident. Her fingers dipped into the small puddle of her blood before she examined it and screamed. "AHHH! BLOOD!" She shrieked, wiping her finger continously on the floor. Her body shook violently as she slowly backed away from the puddle. "What is this place? Where am I? Who are you? Who am...I?" She looked at her surroundings in fear.

"Aya-chan? Are you all right?" Yukina asked cautiously.

"My name is Aya-chan? You keep calling me that. So that _is _my name, right? Tell me! I'm confused! I don't remember anything!" She yelled desperately, holding onto Yukina's shoulders and shook her. Crystalline tears appeared at the edge of her eyes. She felt so scared and lonely. She didn't have a past or an idea where she is. How old was she? Who was the girl in front of her? Why was there blood where she sat before? She pushed Yukina to the ground and leaned against the wall with her hands covering her face. The koorime looked guiltily at the weak girl. She was sobbing behind her hands.

"Don't worry, Aya-chan. I'm sure that your amnesia is only temporary. You should just rest a little bit first," Yukina said, leading her to Atsuko's bedroom by her arm. Ayane nodded pathetically at the nice stranger; wiping away at her tears. If any demon were to see the great demon hunter now, they would've laughed before taking advantage of the situation. The last survivor of the Anda clan was acting as though she was a mere human child.

Once they arrived the room, the mothering koorime instructed the black-haired girl to get into bed and tucked her in. Ayane watched as Yukina exit the room before closing her eyes. Unbeknownst to the demon hunter, this day was a whole new beginning of her life. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Yukina was beginning to make some rice soup for Ayane. She thought that it was strange that Ayane would go jogging with casual clothes, instead of sweatpants and a loose shirt. Ayane was still wearing the dressy clothes, the same creme shirt and red skirt, as she slumbered. "I shouldn't think about that. I should think about Aya-chan's well-being. After all, it's my entire fault that she's like this," Yukina sighed. "Like what?" Hiei's voice surprised Yukina. "You scared me, Hiei-san!" She said, putting her hand over her heart. "Sorry. You were talking about Yusuke's cousin, weren't you? Was she of any threat to you?" Hiei asked, a hint of worry evident in his voice. Yukina, looked surprisingly at the fire demon, shook her head and wondering why he would ask her that. Hiei's hold on the hilt of his sword dropped. He was worried that the infamous demon hunter would be ready to strike him and Yukina at any instant. "So where is she?"

"She's sleeping in her room. I just realized that I need to go buy more food for her. Yusuke-san is getting low on food. Sorry that I can't stay while you're here but we'll talk later. Ja ne, Hiei-san!" Yukina said. She grabbed her light blue jacket and donned it before exiting the apartment.

_This is a perfect chance for me to get some answers out of the girl. She might not have hurt Yukina yet but that doesn't mean that she couldn't be the one that we're looking for. She could just be pretending. _His red eyes were determined as he began to stalk into the bedroom. Automatically, his hand touched the sword's hilt, just in case. His free hand carefully pushed open the door, making it creak as he headed further in. His head scanned the surroundings; no one was sight. Everything was just as it was except for the bed. The blanket was tossed to the side and the pillow was dangling from the bed's edge. _Yukina just told me that she's sleeping so where is she? Did she escape through the window like she attempted to do the other day? _A grumbling in another room interrupted his thoughts. It was coming from the bathroom. Ayane groaned as she kept trying to pull her shirt over her head. She wanted to take a shower so she could wash away the dirty blood. Though she found that her broken right arm made it difficult for her to pull the garment over her head.

"Tell me the truth now, human! Are you or are you not the Anda demon hunter!" Hiei yelled. He had rushed into the bathroom without even knocking; resulting in Ayane's horrified scream. In front of his eyes, Ayane was half-naked with only a bra and her shirt with her right sleeve still on. In anger, the girl threw a bottle of shampoo at the fire demon's face. "Get out! You pervert!" Ayane screamed, trying to conceal her chest with her arms. On her face, she had on a visible blush.

_Hn. Human girls are always so sensitive about their bare bodies. Not that there's anything to see, anyway. _

A/N: The last comment made by Hiei doesn't mean that Ayane is flat in the chest area; it just means that Hiei's not really interested in women's bodies. I don't know if I've ever addressed the review issue here but PLEASE stop giving me the same review over and over again. If you review, please tell me why you liked the story, what did you like or hate in the particular chapter. What I need to improve on or what I need to add on. Thank you.


	9. The Past Comes Back to Haunt You

A/N: Regarding the last chapter, when Hiei said that there's nothing to see on Ayane's body meant that Hiei isn't as interested in female bodies like Yusuke is. I just imagine him as the kind of guy who would find the girl he loves sexy, not some random girl that he hardly knows.

Chapter 9: The Past Comes Back to Haunt You

Hundreds and hundreds of years ago, there used to be three famous demon hunter families, the Fujishima, the Hashimoto and the Anda family. Only one of the families survived throughout the centuries, that is the Anda family, the formerly weakest of the three hunter demon clans. The Fujishima and the Hashimoto clans were killed off by the proud demons that were sick of "inferior beings" decreasing their population. Somehow, the Anda clan managed to survive the genocide until in the 20th century when only one Anda family member was classified as a demon hunter. The other remaining family members either got on their lives everyday with normal human occupations, chose not to acknowledge their legacy or their own parents never wanted to mention it. Lisa Anda was that demon hunter, the daughter of a former demon hunter. She was famous for concocting demon poisons and weapons against the creatures; also rumoring to have created a secret weapon to wipe away an entire race of demons. The rumored secret weapon hasn't been found yet. According to popular belief, only one of her descendants will be able to find the weapons.

All throughout her teens, instead of finishing her high school years, she had disappeared from her home. No one knew where she had went, the friendless but cold Lisa never told anyone. Overcame by grief, her father, who also discovered that an old chest full of journals, including ingredients for poisons and repellents and records of Anda demon killings and other relics to be gone, had committed suicide. At the age of eighteen, Lisa found out about his suicide and moved to Tokyo to attend its prestigious college, studying Chemistry. She dropped out after less than five months and sought to create her own concoctions used against demons. The ingredients for Andas' past poisons were ineffective for higher class demons so Lisa was determined to make a name for herself by using her expert knowledge of chemistry. Before she settled down to have a family at the age of 26, she had traveled all over the world, killing demons that terrorized innocent humans and perfected concoctions.

Lisa had kept her last name to keep up the Anda name and had a daughter with her husband. Two years later, Lisa's husband had enough of her inattentiveness for her own family for she was too powerhungry for the end of demons, so he filed for divorce and for custody of their daughter, Rika. Unfortunately, he was killed in a car accident and his body was never found after it was taken to the hospital. From then on, Lisa took care of two-year-old Rika, teaching her about concocting deadly demon poisons and how to fight after she turned 6 years old. As years rolled on, Lisa was too absorbed in her work to pay attention to Rika, causing the lonely girl to start hating her mother. For that reason, Rika got married as soon as she was in her first year of college, severing all ties with her mother, who disapproved of the husband.

Rika Nomura had a daughter named Ayane, who had inherited her looks from her alluring grandmother. Meanwhile, Lisa had seemingly disappeared from the face of the Earth. Many had presumed her to be dead, much to demons' relief. They wouldn't have to face the wrath of an Anda anymore.

Back on Ningenkai, Rika and her husband raised Ayane to be a normal girl without any mentions of Rika's family legacy. Ayane grew up to be a happy, pretty and healthy girl, who had plenty of love from her parents. Rika would see to that, she didn't want Ayane to grow up to be like Lisa, to be so full of hate. Unfortunately, a month after Ayane had turned ten years old; Ayane could not escape from her fate any longer.

Soothsayer's Answer

In the discreet and gloomy bar where demons usually come to unwind, there was a silent and strange entity sitting on a stool, enjoying its alcoholic beverage. This strange entity was always dressed in a dark gray cloak, sitting on the farthest seat at the bar, clutching a glass of vodka. Its face is completely covered by the dark shadows of its heavy hood; in fact, no one has ever seen its face. Most demons just assume that the entity is male, considering his frail and hoarse voice. The most others see of him are hands covered up by black leather gloves. This entity is actually quite famous for his almost always accurate premonitions and its peaceful nature. He was always seeked out by demons or in some cases, humans, to foretell future events.

"Hey, bartender!" The leader of a well-known demon group bellowed, banging at the bar. "Give me and my boys something heavy!" The entity, otherwise known as the soothsayer, glanced at the leader for a moment before paying attention to his own drink. The haughty leader had noticed and walked over to tap the soothsayer roughly on the shoulder. "Was there something that you wanted to say to me?" He asked, a dangerous glint in his red eyes. The soothsayer merely brought the glass to his dark void of a face and downed his drink. He was about to get up from his stool but the impatient leader grabbed him by the arm.

"Hey, worthless demon, I asked you a question. Don't you know who you're talking to? I'm Kato of the last powerful demon tribe, the Yoshi," he said with a sense of pride. The soothsayer pulled his arm back, tapped a coin down onto the counter next to his empty glass and was starting to walk out of the place when..."Stop right there, soothsayer," a stranger said. At the entryway, a stranger was glaring at the entity with arms outstretched to prevent the soothsayer from leaving. The stranger was wearing a long gray trenchcoat and by the look of the person's eyes, it seemed to be a woman. A black scarf to hide her true identity covered the lower part of her face. If she were discovered to be a human woman, she would be attacked by all of the regular customers.

"How may I be of service to you, stranger?" The dark entity said hoarsely and heavily.

"I'm in need of your services," the woman said softly but the soothsayer had heard her. Then she nodded to a dark corner where an empty table stood; the soothsayer followed her after allowing her to be seated first. Kato looked surreptiously at the dark corner, spying at the corner of his eyes at the mysterious female. Although, she was covered enough to hide her body and her face, her amber eyes seemed to caught the attention of the cocky demon.

"So what is it that you wish to know... Ms. Anda," the soothsayer said quietly. Even her disguise couldn't escape his all seeing eye, though Lisa wasn't alarmed by this fact, she didn't care if he did know her real identity. She already knew that he wasn't one to betray his 'customers'. If he were, then that wouldn't matter either, for she could just take his life in that bar.

"I wish to know if I'm to be the last of the Anda clan. Currently, my stubborn daughter won't acknowledge her true heritage, she insists on living like a regular human. Will there be at least one Anda who will be a successful demon hunter in the future?" She asked, awaiting his answer.

The soothsayer let out a long sigh before lifting an old brown sack, putting it carefully on the table. One of his gloved hands took off the brown sack to reveal its true content, a crystal ball. When Lisa looked closely at the round glass ball, she saw nothing but white mist swimming around like clouds in the sky. The soothsayer placed his hands around the crystal ball and murmured some strange words before the mists were replaced by an image of a teenage girl with long black hair to her elbows with amber eyes. "The answer is yes. Though your own daughter will not acknowledge her family's legacy, your granddaughter will, indeed, follow in your footsteps. Is there something else you wanted to know?" The soothsayer asked, looking at the content customer sitting across from him.

"No, that is all I wanted to know." With that, Lisa got up and threw some silver and gold coins on the table. When her back was turned, another image replaced the image of the teenage girl; it was an image of the day when Lisa's own daughter and her husband died at the mercy of Kato and his band of demons.

The Present: Ayane's Current Situation

_Ever since I lost my parents, I lived with Jiroshi-sama for about six years. He was my mentor; he taught me about my family's legacy and he was also the one who told me who were responsible for my parents' death. Ever since that day when he found me, he wasted no time in training me for my true destiny; my true goal for my life; to eliminate the universe of all demons. Because of them, I lost my childhood. Because of them, I had to endure rigorous training from age 10 to now! Because of them, I have nightmares of my parents covered with their own blood! Because of them, all I wanted in life was revenge! I could never go to a normal school again, I could never tell my parents about all my little accomplishments, I couldn't even celebrate my own birthdays with them, and I could not do anything normal like most people! This is why I _have _to kill them all; starting with the weakest demons then the strongest demons then the lords of Makai themselves! _

"This is how I never wanted you to be, Ayane. I want you to love, not hate recklessly. You're becoming just like your grandma, _my_ mother. Do you remember back when we were still with you? Remember, Ayane, remember...Remember that your dad and I love you. Revenge is never the answer..."

_M-mom? I-is that you? _

Ayane could see her legs walking forward in the darkness and her hands were trying to grasp something in front of her. As she walked in the darkness, she winced and noticed light flooding from underneath a door. As she slowly reached out and grasped the doorknob, she opened the door to see a brightly colored room. A pair of twins and a little girl chased after each other, laughing gleefully. The twin boys were identical with their short brown hair and their green eyes. They looked to be about six years old. The little girl had long blonde hair over her shoulders and it was tied back into a half ponytail. Her eyes were brown and she looked to be about three years old.

The three children didn't seem to notice the presence of Ayane. The raven-haired girl couldn't help but smile at the playfulness of the adorable children. She moved closer into the living room, her hand leaving the doorknob. She knelt down when one of the children ran closer to her; she stretched her arms to try to catch the little girl. The little girl ran through her and continued to giggle as if nothing had happened. Ayane was shocked at the strange occurrence. _Is this a dream? _She looked wide-eyed at her transparent hands. "HEY!" A deep but cheerful voice made her jump.

"Daddy!" The twins and the little girl exclaimed happily and ran into his arms. The brown-haired and brown eyed man smiled gently at his children. "You're fiwanny home! You're fiwanny home!" One of the twins lisped. He hugged tightly onto his shoulders like he was afraid that his dad would disappear.

"Hai, I'm finally home! I'm sorry for not coming home sooner but daddy was busy with work. Now, Hoshino, have you been good while I was gone?" The man asked.

"Hai, hai! I help mommy make dinner!" Hoshino said happily.

"That's a good boy," the man said.

"I've been good, too! Kawachi-sensei said so!" Hoshino's twin said.

"Good boy!" the man said again. "Has Ana been good, too?" He said, kneeling to his daughter's height. The blonde little girl nodded vigorously.

"Where daddy work?" Ana asked. "How come daddy not home like mommy?" At this, the man's smile disappeared and was replaced with a frown.

"Oh...Ana, I really don't want to answer that," he said sadly. He turned away from his children as if he was suddenly ashamed of something. Before anyone could say anything, a knock sounded at the front door. "I'll get it!" The man's wife called from the kitchen and they could hear her walk to the front door. The muffled "Who is it?" could be heard. Then the sound of the lock was being opened. "It must be freezing out there!" The man's wife exclaimed. There was a muffled and calm response from the stranger at the door. After that, the three children and the one adult in the living room could hear two pair of footsteps. The one belonging to their mom and wife, who had just entered the room followed by a beautiful black-haired woman. The beautiful woman wasn't smiling nor did she bother to greet the man who stared curiously at the stranger. Even when she saw the children, she didn't make an effort to smile.

"You have a lovely home, youkai," the woman said in a low and unemotionless voice. The man and his wife gasped loudly while the children looked on in confusion at the adults. "Your children are adorable, too. Though I bet they're as ugly as you are when they turn to their true form." The wife covered her mouth with her hands. The expression of her face clearly read 'how did you know?' The man, however, pulled his wife behind him and shielded her and the children. He had on a dangerous look with narrowed eyes. "Who are you? How do you know about me?" He asked her.

The strange woman calmly started to unwrap the smoky gray scarf that she had concealed the bottom half of her face. Because of the harsh and cold weather, it wouldn't seem strange if she had a scarf wrapped around her mouth. Though it was clear now why she used a scarf to wrap the lower half of her face, it was to conceal her true identity. It was Ayane! Ayane let out an audible gasp but nobody turned in her direction. Again, they didn't seem to notice her. _Why are there two of me? _The Ayane who had just revealed her identity, smirked. "How did I know? I knew ever since I bumped you! This is what makes us Anda the best demon hunting clan, our unique ability to smell demons! Your unearthly smell attracted me to you. You didn't even suspect that for weeks I had been following you. So that means that you're one of the lower class demons? You don't need to protect your wife like that; I know that she isn't a demon." Ayane said. "I don't smell anything on her except for your scent but other than that, she's clean."

"And my children?" He said indicating the children who were cowering behind their mother's legs.

"They're demons-" she said.

"But they're also humans!" He screamed. "You demon hunters don't kill humans!"

_Demons! Demon hunters!_ Ayane thought as she watched the scene progressed in front of her.

"I apologize," she said simply, starting to move toward them. The man closed his eyes and sighed. _I never wanted them to see the real me but this is for their sakes. _He looked back at his frightened children; his wife was hugging Ana because she was crying. In front of his family, he was starting to change into his real form; his demon form.

The fight was over before it even started. The demon thought that he might have a chance though the famous demon hunter had the advantage. He _was _a lower level demon, which meant that he was no match for the woman. It was in front of his family's eyes that he fell on the ground, green slimy blood covering every inch of him. At first his children were afraid and a little disgusted but they knew it was their father. While this was progression, Ayane's hand that did the killing was stained with the demon's blood but she didn't wince while or after the killing. She didn't even have any qualms about going after the children.

"NO! LEAVE THEM ALONE!" The mother used her body and arms to shield Ayane from getting too close. The children looked over their mother's shoulders at the woman with the piercing amber eyes.

"Y-you took daddy away!" Hoshino suddenly screamed, pointing his index finger accusingly at Ayane. Meanwhile, the transparent Ayane muttered _no no_ under her breath. If anything, she wanted to stop this crazy woman before she could kill the children.

"Your daddy?" She scoffed. "Little boy, your father was literally a _monster_. The type that you are and it's my job to take out the dirt." Ayane's finger was about to make contact with Hoshino's face when his mom pushed it away. "Don't touch my little boy." She said forcefully.

"I'm sorry I'll have to do this. I'm usually respectful of people but I-" She roughly shoved the mother to the ground, leaving the children unprotected. "I have to do my job." Ayane's shadow on the wall showed her raising a clear vial and threw it on the children. Their screams could be heard; so full of pain and desperation. They called for their mother and their father. The mother could only look on in horror as her children's bodies were dissipating before her own eyes. "Murderer! You murdered my husband and my children!" She screamed when Ayane started for the front door. "Disgusting demons should all be killed! Half or full; they all deserve to die!" Ayane snapped at the sobbing woman on the floor. Her eyes were full of deep hatred.

"My babies, my babies! My whole family...gone! Murderer! Murderer!" She screamed.

Ayane rolled over in bed, clutching to the pillow and moaning. "Nooo. No I'm not a murderer! It wasn't me! Shut up! I would never hurt those children! It was another me! AHHHH!" She sat up in bed and looked around in her dark room. Sweat dripped down her neck while she panted heavily. She felt something touching her hand. With her free hand, she turned on the lamp and saw that someone was holding her hand. _I-it's him. Hiei-san. _She looked surprised at the sleeping fire demon that was holding her hand firmly. His head was leaning against the side of the bed and his fingers intertwined with hers. Ayane could feel her face burning up.

A/N: The update was long but at least I finally updated. I would like to thank all the reviewers that stick with me even if I don't update as much. This chapter didn't have much AyanexHiei but it's getting there. Oh yeah, a new character's introduced to this story, Lisa, Ayane's grandma. That sounds weird, I know because grandmas are usually seen as weak and friendly. Though Lisa is a different kind of woman, different kind of wife, mother and grandma. She's an important part of this story but next chapter will have focus on Hiei and Ayane again. Anyway, I'll see you later.


	10. Two Attacks In One Night

A/N: Chapter 9 was supposed to describe the fight scene between the demon and "Ayane" but I was half-asleep while I was typing. Despite that, I hope that the last chapter was entertaining enough. I know that this story is getting confusing but at the end, everything will make sense. I also want to thank HieiFan666 for the only review last chapter. The updates aren't frequent but thanks for sticking by this story.

Chapter 10: Two Attacks In One Night

_Damn it. What's with that recurring nightmare? The one with me attacking a family and accusing them of being demons. Then the one where I 'wake up' to find Hentai (her nickname for Hiei) holding my hand. _Ayane thought as she dried another dish with a rag. _Why do I always see _him _in my dreams or should I say 'nightmares'? Does he have something to do with me? With my past? Am I really a demon hunter? Could he possibly have been my...boyfriend? _The dish slipped from Ayane's hand, stirring her from her thoughts. Her face was visibly blushing now. Luckily, nobody was in the kitchen to witness it. Ayane bent down to retrieve the broken pieces, reviewing the details of the dream in her mind. _It-it couldn't be. Then again, every time I have that nightmare, he _is _always holding my hand at the end._

Ever since she lost her memory, Yusuke and his friends was half-relieved that the mysterious demon hunter couldn't kill anymore. Though the problem remains, is Ayane really the demon hunter that they were supposed to sought after? It is suspicious that she claims to be Yusuke's cousin from his mom's side when Yusuke didn't even know he had a cousin. It is also suspicious that she came home with a bloody arm on the same day that a strange attack was announced on the news. They weren't really sure. Nobody knows how the remaining Anda demon hunter looks like. The only evidence that they have is that Ayane looks identical to Lisa Anda, one of the greater demon hunters. They couldn't question the girl either; the girl could barely remember her own name. She had thought her name was Aya because Yukina kept calling her "Aya-chan". With what little knowledge they had of her, they told her about herself.

Meanwhile, there's trouble stirring in the world of demons. Recently, the three leaders of Makai and the junior lord of Reikai have been arguing about the infamous Anda. One of the leaders of Makai, King Yomi opts to eliminate the last Anda descendant so that she couldn't continue the bloodline; thus ending the threat of Makai. Even after the disappearance of Lisa Anda, Yomi is still worried about the legendary sword (that only a descendant of Anda could wield) that can kill high-leveled demons and ultimately, the three kings. After the confirmation of such a sword existed, many demons and humans alike, sought to travel all over the three worlds for it. In the end, all of them ended up coming home with nothing.

Regarding to Hiei and Ayane's relationship, ever since the incident, the latter chose to ignore the former whenever she saw him. Whenever she does address him, she calls him "Hentai-san". Unbeknownst to her, he was assigned to protect the black-haired teenager by Koenma's orders; a job that Hiei begrudgingly took. Koenma's reason was that "King Yomi might've sent assassins to get rid of her." So she would see him every single day, if not in the apartment, then at least sitting on a tree outside of Urameshi residence. Whenever she saw him outside the window, she'd pull down the shade. While she hated Hiei, she made a good friend, Yukina. The innocent koorime kept Ayane company along with Keiko, Shizuru and Botan. In a way, Ayane felt like a prisoner. She could hardly go to the store without the impression that she was being watched. Of course, it was Hiei that did all the watching. In his mind, the only good thing about this job was that he would be able to see his sister. (Yukina is usually with Ayane. She feels responsible for Ayane's memory loss.)

Back to the present, Ayane was alone in the apartment. Yukina had left hours ago upon Ayane's insistence. She was grateful for the company but she felt like she was being babysat. It was getting dark outside. After cleaning up the mess, she headed to the bedroom that was Atsuko's. She had seen Atsuko some days ago though she disappeared this morning. She wasn't that worried since Yusuke told her that it was normal for his mom to do that. Ayane glanced up at the clock and saw that it was only 6. _I haven't seen that pervert all day. _Ayane thought suddenly. _Then again, why should I even care! _She threw open the blankets and got into bed. Since there was nothing to do, she figured that she'd sleep away the boredom. She turned off the light and rolled over.

An hour later, she couldn't fall asleep. She had tried drinking warm milk, reading a book, watching a movie and even taking sleeping pills. None of the methods worked and she was left to staring at the dark ceiling. It was so quiet that anybody could hear a mouse squeaking. Then suddenly, a crashing sound was heard coming from the living room. Ayane stopped her tossing and turning, her body frozen on the bed. Her heart was beating violently against her chest. "What was that?" She asked meekly. As she lay frozen, footsteps could be heard. _Maybe it's Yusuke. _Her conscience argued. _You dummy! How could that be Yusuke? He would have keys to his own home. _Ayane groaned to her reasonable side. If it's not Yusuke, then it's probably a burglar.

Ayane rolled off of the bed, crouched behind one side of the bed and waited, grasping her hand around the neck of the lamp. She could hear the footsteps walking to the kitchen, to the bathroom, to Yusuke's bedroom. Something occurred to her; the stranger was looking for something! Otherwise, he would've spent at least a good 10 minutes in each room to steal whatever values they had. Only her eyes could be seen peering over the top of the bed. _But what? What could this person be looking for? What if whatever he's looking for is in this room? Though what's in this room that the other rooms don't have? _

The intruder grasped the doorknob of the last door that he hadn't checked out. A smirk formed on his lips as he realized Ayane must be right behind this door. "It's been a while, Ayane," he whispered to himself. "You can't hide from me forever. I must say, it was quite easy getting rid of your bodyguard."

Meanwhile, a dark figure was standing on a tree that faced the apartment. "Really. Haven't you had enough of your womanizing, disgusting demon?" The dark figure said, cloak billowing in the wind.

He opened the door to reveal a dark room. He walked over to the lump on the bed, flipped the blanket and saw a stack of pink pillows. It was a clever ruse though the he wasn't amused. With a 'hmph', he crawled on the bed and stuck his head over the other side. Empty. He walked over to the closet and teasingly opened the doors slowly. To his disappointment, all he saw was a few dresses hung and some strewn on the floor of the closet. He closed the closet doors halfway, enough for Ayane to watch him. _So she's under the bed, is she? _He walked over to it and stuck his head under the bed. Also, empty.

As he raised his head, a black cord seized him by the neck. "So you outsmarted me, Ayane," he said. He could sense that Ayane was right behind him, pulling with all her might. "You've mastered the art of stealth. So where were you? I looked everywhere you could've possibly hidden."

"Look," Ayane said, tightening the lamp cord around his neck, ignoring his question, "I don't who the hell you are or how you know me. But I am warning you; you'd better get the hell out of here before I hurt you." The ferocious in her voice was undeniable; her old self was shining through. Ayane was shocked that she could muster this much courage to face this guy.

His eyes started to glow red. He grabbed the cord in front of his neck. Sizzling sounds could be heard; Ayane gasped; the cord was dissipating with his touch. Uncertain on what to do, Ayane brought the lamp on his head. Unfortunately, it just broke. She ran out of the bedroom and into the living room. She was almost to Yusuke's room when she felt someone grab her arm. His strength was incredible; he had flung her onto the couch; she felt like she was flung against a brick wall. Ayane got up and climbed over the back of the couch before he could come near her. She grabbed the nearest thing, the television and hurled it in his direction. "Whoa, " she said, looking at her hands. She felt like something was controlling her. She never knew she was this strong. The TV set was burned in mid-air before it could even reach the dark-haired man. _What the hell is he?_

"You can't run away forever, Ayane," said the man tauntingly.

"Maybe not but I can do this," she said. She ran forward, grabbed a chair and flung it at the man. _I hope this works. _It felt like time was slowing down. The man just stood there, confident, the chair almost impacted with him. Predictably, the chair burst into flames. The man's face was smug but when the chair barely finishes burning; Ayane's foot came hurtling through and hit his stomach. He was caught off-guard and flew back into the floor. Ayane dropped down to her knees, holding her foot. It was slightly burned when she had kicked through the burning chair. _I have to get out of here before he wakes up. _She forced her left and unharmed foot to walk. She leaned her hand against the nearest wall and willed her left foot forward. She winced every time her right foot hit the floor. The man on the floor started to groan in pain. He was starting to move.

"I have to get out of here," she muttered. She was almost to the front door; she reached out only to be yanked back. He was already up. He was furious now. He was holding her by her hair. "I always get what I want, always," he said. She could see the determination in his red eyes. He leaned down to kiss her but Ayane bit down his nose. He released her hair and clutched his nose in pain. Ayane stood planted on the floor, ready to fight again, despite her injured foot. She didn't know it but her instincts were overtaking her. Determination shone in her beautiful amber eyes.

"Heh. Your fighting skills have improved since the last time," he said, his nose bleeding. Ayane stood in horror as he started to change shape. His body was shrinking, his big nose was changing shape, his eyes stopped glowing, his hair was beginning to raise, his clothes seizing to fit him. Instantly, Ayane's face was contorting in anger. "YOU!" In front of her stood the same man who had seen her half-naked. The same man that hangs around the house and is one of Yusuke's friends. She remembered that everybody else called him "Hiei".

"Me," he simply said.

"What the hell are you?" Ayane asked.

"Don't remember me, do you? Well, let me refresh your memory. Six years ago, there existed a girl of ten years. Her parents knew about her family's legacy but they never told her. Rika Nomura, her mother wanted to give her precious daughter a safe life so she married a regular man instead of continuing the legacy. Unfortunately, one day, tragedy struck. The little girl's family was killed by a gang of demons. Ever since the death of her parents, the little girl resolved to kill every demon in the worlds. That little girl's name was Ayane Nomura but her known name is Ayane Anda. And the leader of the demon gang is standing right before you."

Ayane's fists clenched and unclenched. She was shaking with anger. The story sounded so farfetched yet she believed every word of it. With a swift movement, Ayane grabbed the nearest vase and broke it, using the biggest piece as her weapon. She charged forward only to be grabbed by a hand from behind. She looked behind her and gasped; there was a cloaked figure holding her arm. Ayane tried to push the figure away but-CRASH! The Hiei look-a-like and Ayane looked shockingly at the sight; another Hiei had just came hurtling through the window. The Hiei look-a-like regained himself quickly and dodged the real Hiei's sword just in time. Ayane stood immobile, watching the fight with a stunned face. "Th-there are two of them!"

"One of them is the imposter," the figure said. Ayane jumped at the voice. For a brief moment there, she had forgotten all about the mysterious figure.

Ayane didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to do. The fight in front of her was neverending. Should she go and get help? But where would she get help? From the police? They would laugh in her face if she ever told them about the fighting demons. _No! It's impossible! Demons aren't real! This is just another one of my nightmares. _She winced in pain as she stood on her right foot. _But if I was dreaming, how come I feel pain?_ She looked up at the pair fighting. She couldn't see anything; they were too fast. All she could see was blurs moving around.

She could feel something pinching into her skin. The room was darkening. She landed on the floor in a thud. "I apologize, Ayane, but if I don't do this now. You'll be making the biggest mistake of your life," the figure said, throwing aside the syringe on the floor. A smooth and youthful looking hand protruded from under her cloak, holding a small silver dagger. "I hope you understand, this is for our family's future."

The fight between Hiei and the imposter was put to a stop. The latter had escaped through the window but not without shooting a backward glance at the unconscious Ayane. Hiei noticed this and the cloaked figure, which stood, waiting in the corner. Ayane was beginning to regain consciousness. She opened her eyes to see moving shapes; a dark one and a gray one. Ayane held her head and groaned but the gray figure didn't notice. Her vision was starting to come through. She could see Hiei on the floor, his shirt ripped in places revealing a few bloody wounds. He was panting heavily, leaning on his sword for support.

"I can sense that you're a high-class demon," the gray figure started to speak. The voice was soft yet firm at the same time. It was full of hatred yet calming. Anybody could tell that it was a woman's voice.

"Who are you?" Ayane asked from the floor, unable to contain herself. "Your voice is familiar." She lifted her body off the floor but fell down again. The pain in her foot was unbearable.

"Ayane," the figure bent down and reached out to touch Ayane's face. "I am finally able to see you. You grew up to be such a beautiful young lady."

"Is that you, mom?" Ayane choked, trying to hold back tears.

"Wait here for me," the figure said, standing back up again. "We'll be able to talk more after I'm finished with _him_". The figure faced Hiei's direction and Ayane followed suit.

"What do you mean by 'finished with him'?" Ayane asked breathlessly, standing up.

"This is for your own good, Ayane. We don't need his blood to dirty us," the figure said with disgust in her tone.

Ayane spotted the dagger that the mysterious woman held. It was covered in dark-greenish colored liquid.

"You're going to kill him?" She asked quietly. "NO!" She grabbed onto the figure's arm. "You can't! He helped me!" Ayane struggled to take the dagger from her. The clever figure dropkicked Ayane's right leg. The latter let go and winced. She didn't care if her right leg was still sizzling quietly. She started to crawl towards the slowly walking figure, which was getting closer to Hiei. "No, please, mom. Please don't. I don't care what he did to deserve it..." Ayane pleaded. Tears were welling up in her eyes. She clutched her 'mom's' ankle from taking another step.

"Ayane, let go before I hurt you," her 'mom' said, sighing. The dagger still raised in her hand. Ayane loosened her hold. Ahead, Hiei was just a foot from the figure and Ayane. He was still panting heavily, his eyelids were drooping. He looked too exhausted to fight anymore. The fight with the previous demon was too strenuous for him. "Hiei..." Ayane mumbled without realizing it. Within a second, the figure jumped forward, aiming the dagger at Hiei while he raised his sword to defend himself. Everything happened so fast. If the figure's face could be shown, Ayane and Hiei could've seen the shocked expression upon her face. Her hand shook as she slowly took out the dagger that had penetrated Ayane's back. A shuddering gasp escaped from Ayane as she fell on top of Hiei. Her eyes closed, her breathing heavy and her body still. At the last moment, Ayane had jumped in front of Hiei in time to absorb the dagger's stab. Before she passed out, she thought: _Thank you..._

A/N: Sorry for the long update. In addition to high school, I have to do all this college stuff. In this chapter, an intruder tried to convince Ayane that Hiei killed her parents. Then another intruder tried to kill Hiei but Ayane saved him. Another thing, Ayane's new personality might be more innocent but her old self shines through whenever there's danger; meaning that she still knows how to fight. She just doesn't know how that she does. Hope that wasn't too confusing. Until next time...


	11. Probable Jealousy

Chapter 11: Probable Jealousy

Rays of sunlight penetrated through the green canopies, leaves danced amongst the light breeze, calls of critters echoed amongst the trees as Ayane practiced her combat moves underneath the dark shadows of the trees. In her hand, she held a thick branch, which was easily removed, from a nearby tree. She swished it through the air with ease, fighting with an imaginary opponent. She didn't know why but she felt so comfortable and so relaxed with this exercise. Although, she should really be resting her right foot. With stubborn determination, she refused to let her injured foot rest. She felt a sense of freedom. She closed her eyes; the wind picks up her silky black hair and it sailed through the air. Images of an ongoing fight swam into view.

"**Ugh...You're pretty powerful for a human," a green demon said, spewing blood all over his ripped shirt. He clutched at the open wound which was inflicted by his opponent. It was right above the place where a heart for a human should be. His opponent, a 19-year-old woman, stood over him as he sat there, trying to regain his strength. The moonlight above them shone on her black hair, casting an angelic light behind the woman. If it weren't for her violent nature, anybody would've thought that this woman was an angel in disguise.**

"**Get up and fight me," she said softly and dangerously. She was challenging this demon who had previously made a move on her but because of her ability to sniff demonic auras, she attacked him. Although, anybody could plainly see that the demon was incapable of even standing up. His legs were twisted in odd angles; greenish blood dripping to the ground. He still looked like a human but parts of his true self showed such as his green scaly legs.**

Ayane wanted to throw up as she continued to practice and saw the 19-year-old woman plunged a sharp rock into the demon's heart.

**A trickle of blood slowly dripped from Ayane's head as she glared at her dangerous opponent. Never in her four year career has she had to fight such a strong demon. Despite the fact that she was only fourteen, she could take down almost any demon; even ones that are twice her size. She held onto the nearby tree for support, hoping to catch her breath and to regain her strength. Her eyes were straining to stay open but her body was so exhausted after two hours of fighting. **

"**Had enough yet?" Her opponent asked, an ugly reddish demon with a forked tongue. He could easily tower over her. Instead of answering, she rushed towards the demon, jumped over the red demon's head and landed on his back. With her two bare hands, she rammed them inside the demon's eyes; causing him to thrash about. One of his clawed hands went to his aching eyes while the other reached for Ayane. She slid down his back to avoid his hand and landed on the ground behind him. Blinded but still able to sense Ayane's precise location, the demon reached out with his gigantic hand. She jumped up again and stabbed that same hand with a thick branch. The demon cried out in pain. His arms thrashed about again; one of them actually got Ayane off-guard. Her already tired body was flung into a tree; she grunted with pain. She got up on her hands and knees; spitting blood. _He's too strong for me. What am I going to do? _**

**The demon sniffed the air and smirked. He always loved the smell of blood especially from someone as young and strong as Ayane. For him, the stronger the human, the more healthy his or her blood will be. Ayane glared up at the demon even though he was blinded. She coughed violently. _I need to find out his weakness fast or he'll kill me. _"Blurgh!" She spat out more blood. Her eyes were starting to tire. She wanted to rest...Her body was resisting anymore commands that her brain was issuing; her body yearned rest. _Come on, Ayane! Wake up and fight him! As soon as I am finished with him, I can go home and sleep..._Her left leg was put forward while her right leg was still on its knee. She tried to stand up but she collapsed on the ground. _So comfortable..._She laid there, eyes closed and listening as the demon walked towards her. This was it. She was going to die now. **

**All of a sudden, the wind picked up and blew the red, yellow and orange leaves over Ayane's body as if it was a barrier. She laid there as the wind turned into a soft breeze. She could've sworn that she could hear someone whispering something; it was a familiar voice. She had a light smile on her face now. What a lovely breeze. It rejuvenated her. Her body was still tired but the will to go on was there.**

**Before the demon could reach for her with his claws, Ayane suddenly opened her eyes and did a flip and landed two feet away from the demon. As fast as she could, she ran and did another flip. She landed on the back of his neck, grasped his thick neck with one arm and used her other hand to reach into her small bag. She took out a vial full of a lime-green substance and used her teeth to take off the cork. She spit out the cork and held on as the demon started to thrash around to shake her off. Ayane had to be careful that she didn't spill the chemical. With a swift kick to his ear hole, the demon opened his mouth wide and screamed. She seized this moment to throw the vial inside his mouth. The demon felt a sizzling pain on his tongue; the chemical was melting it! She reached into her pocket this time and took out a stick of dynamite. She lit one end of it with a burning match then she threw the dynamite into the remainder of the demon's mouth. He was squeezing his neck now and stomped on the ground. He made an angry noise and grabbed Ayane with his clawed hand. **

**He slammed her against several trees. Her back, legs and arms were bleeding. Her normally shiny black hair was full of loose branches and autumn leaves. The demon pulled her closer to his face and gave an angry snarl. Ayane thrashed around, trying to loosen herself from its grip. Blood trickled down the side of her lip. She looked at the demon through half-lidded eyes. **

**_So tired now..._Ayane's eyes were drooping, her strength was draining out. The soothing breeze could no longer help her. The last thing she remembered seeing before her eyes fully closed was the dark opening with slimy teeth and a huge tongue. Fortunately, the demon had no succession in devouring her; the breeze had turned into a strong wind. Somehow, it had the strength to lift various thick branches nearby and flung them into the demon's mouth. The sharp edges of the branches stung parts of his fleshy mouth. He dropped Ayane as he tried to pick the branches out. Ayane was flying rapidly towards the ground, she almost reached the ground but the wind picked up again. Her body felt like it was floating now...and she was carefully placed onto the ground. The wind disappeared mysteriously as it came.**

"Mom?" Ayane whispered and opened her eyes. As soon as she uttered that, the wind turned into a light breeze. She lowered the branch, dropping it on the ground. Her knees collapsed underneath her and she stayed there. The sky was clear but drops of water landed on Ayane's nose. Her finger slowly touched the water droplet that landed on her nose and stared up into the sky. She could hear a woman's voice singing lowly in her ear. It almost brought tears to her eyes. The voice was full of sorrow but it was also full of love; love for her lonely child. The words weren't clear to Ayane but she didn't need to hear them, she just needed to hear the emotion behind it. She barely remembered the pain in her foot. The song stopped. Sighing, Ayane got up and wiped away her tears before heading back.

Later...

"Are you okay?" Ayane said as his vision swam in and out. The worried black-haired girl squeezed a wet cold cloth and put it on Hiei's forehead. He groaned as he pushed himself up on the bed. He put his hand to his head as the cold compress fell off his forehead. Ayane caught it and tried to force him back on the bed. "Get back into bed!" She said in an almost scolding tone. She had stood up too fast so she fell down immediately to the floor; her right foot was still killing her. Yukina had helped Ayane wrap her injured foot but the sizzling pain wouldn't stop.

"Why don't you worry more about your health than mine?" Hiei said, somewhat rudely. He was still trying to get up despite 'nurse' Ayane's order. The stubborn Ayane wasn't about to give up so quickly; one injured foot won't stop her from taking good care of him. After all, he DID save her life. She was going to have to repay him somehow. What better way than nursing him back to health?

"Hmph! That's what you say to me after having to carry you all the way into Yusuke's bed! You're not exactly light, you know!" Ayane yelled. Hiei sweatdropped. He didn't know that she was this fiery.

"You carried me here? You were unconscious..." he said.

"Well, I was but you fainted after me and I woke up first so I would have to carry YOU," Ayane said, her back to Hiei. She was stirring something on the table opposite the bed. The clinking of a spoon against the edges of a bowl could be heard. "Anyway," she continued in a softer tone now. "Thank you for what you did before. You're not as bad as I thought you were, Hentai-san."

_She's still calling me that? _Hiei thought. "Hn" was all he said.

"I don't really know what you like to eat so I'm making you some special soup. Yuki-chan taught me how to make it but I made up my own recipe," Ayane said, smiling to herself. She never knew the pleasure of cooking a simple meal for anybody. The former Ayane was not the cooking type, she was the more fighting and killing type so it's expected if Ayane's cooking isn't edible. "Okay, hope you enjoy it. Ta-da!" She turned around and showed Hiei the bowl of her 'special soup'. He wasn't sure what was in the soup. What was that red lumpy stuff disassembling in there? Unaware of it, he made a face. Ayane caught the look on his face. The smile slowly faded from her face.

"What exactly is in there?" he asked.

Before Ayane said anything, Yukina came in. "Hiei-san, you're finally awake. Are you okay?" She asked. Hiei just nodded. Ayane caught the kindness in his eyes that shone when he looked at Yukina. For some reason, Ayane's heart started to pound faster. She held her hand to her heart but lowered it.

"Aya-chan, you shouldn't be standing! Your right foot is still hurt and your back wound-," Yukina said.

"Huh? Oh. I'm fine," Ayane said, putting the soup on the dresser next to the bed. Before she left the room and without looking at Yukina and Hiei, she said, "Be sure to drink the soup and get some rest, okay? If you need me, just yell." Ayane limped out of the room and rested against the nearest wall. _What's wrong with me? My face feels hot and my heart is pounding so fast. I must be getting sick. _When in fact, she was jealous of Yukina, she just doesn't realize it.

Later that afternoon, Yukina had left to return to Genkai's, Ayane decided to check up on her patient who has been resting all that morning. She was just outside the door when she brought her fist up to knock the door but she hesitated. Instead, she turned in another direction to the living room. There, she spend a few minutes staring at the blank TV. _This is stupid! Why am I so afraid to go in there? I wonder if he actually drank my soup? _She put her head between her hands and sighed. She looked up at the ceiling and omitted more sighs. "This is stupid! I'm going in there! I'm not afraid of him!" She declared loudly that Hiei could hear her. Inside his room, he sweatdropped again. _What the hell is she mumbling about? _He thought.

She marched defiantly to the door and opened it. He was calmly sitting in bed while she looked at him. The bowl was still full of soup that she made; so he didn't drink it after all. Ayane was putdown by this revelation. Did it really look that revolting? The pain in her right foot suddenly increased. "Aghhh!" She cried as she fell to her knees. She gripped tightly on the doorknob. Her face grimaced to withstand the pain. The wound on her back from the dagger also started to heat up. It felt like fire was literally coursing through her body.

"**_Kill him...Kill him now and your future will be secure..." _**A woman's voice ran in Ayane's head. It seemed familiar. Where had she heard it before? **_"Kill him, do you hear me?" _**

Ayane sat on the floor, breathing heavily. She noticed that her pain was completely gone. Her whole body broke out in shivers. Her eyes widened as she stared at the floor. _What was that about? What's wrong with me? _

"What's wrong? You were screaming," Hiei said, standing before Ayane. She looked up at him and shook her head slowly.

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong," she said, avoiding his eyes. Her back wound burned again. **_"KILL HIM"_**

"NO! Shut up! SHUT UP!" She screamed at the voice in her head. She cowered near the door, hands over her ears. The voice stopped for now. When Ayane came to, she realized her awkward position on the floor. She carefully stood up and cleared her throat. "Um...I have to go somewhere right now." She passed by Hiei and limped out of the room.

The fire demon just looked after Ayane as she limped to the front door, grabbing her jacket from the sofa. He sighed. He would have to follow her again.

A/N: Attention! From now on, Jiroshi's name is changed to Daisuke. 'Jiroshi' is Ayane's boss, in case you forgot. I don't have much to say so please review.


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